City with smarts
Future looks bright for Waterloo after Intelligent Community prize
LUISA D'AMATO
NEW YORK CITY (May 19, 2007)

http://www.therecord.com/images/kwr/kwr1046997_1.jpg
Celebrating with the Intelligent Community of the Year trophy in New York yesterday are (from left) Waterloo CAO Simon Farbrother, Mayor Brenda Halloran, Shirley Fenton and Coun. Mark Whaley.


It's only just begun. As a result of being named the world's most intelligent community, Waterloo can look forward to more globally oriented businesses settling here, more highly educated workers wanting to move here and more innovation for everyone.

Those are the predictions of euphoric Waterloo representatives after the Intelligent Community Forum announced yesterday that Waterloo is the winner among seven finalists worldwide.

The top intelligent community is chosen by a combination of an international jury decision and a statistical breakdown of information about each community, compiled by a research firm.

Among the qualities judged are: how well connected the citizens are to the Internet, how well educated its workers are, how innovative and co-operative the community is, and how well it markets itself.

On all those counts, the city of Waterloo is "a tidal wave of a town," said Lou Zacharilla, director of development for the forum, a non-profit think-tank based in Manhattan.

"The town that invented the BlackBerry . . . they have created the Nirvana of intelligent communities," he said after a two-day conference entitled Building the Broadband Economy.

He praised not only the research done at Waterloo's two universities and its high-technology organizations and businesses, but also the "magnificence" of its philanthropy, including the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Centre for International Governance Innovation.

Excited Waterloo officials said the designation would bring immediate and long-lasting benefits.

"Now we're going to be able to go global," Mayor Brenda Halloran said after she accepted the award from the forum, flanked by Coun. Mark Whaley, University of Waterloo computer systems group research associate Shirley Fenton and Waterloo's chief administrative officer, Simon Farbrother, all of whom worked for two years to get the designation.

Halloran and others predicted other communities will now start flocking to Waterloo to see how things are done, and that its reputation will be enhanced among business leaders and highly educated workers alike.

Last year's winner of the award, Taipei, received more than 400 visits from other communities worldwide.

Waterloo already plans to host two international conferences as an intelligent community: one in October on how broadband technology can save energy and another in May 2008 when representatives from other countries visit New York, Waterloo and other North American cities as part of a continental tour of "intelligent communities."

"I see more companies wanting to have Waterloo as their home. These will be global-thinking companies," Fenton said as she considered Waterloo's future.

She also envisioned better technology for the average citizen, leading to a more democratic society.

For example, people could watch webcasts of city council meetings from their homes and could pass around a "virtual microphone," asking questions that would get immediate answers from staff and politicians.

A project with the Waterloo Public Library, which allows highly skilled immigrants to find out about Waterloo online before they even move here, is just the beginning of using the Internet to make information more publicly accessible.

"We're at the tip of the iceberg," she said.

Councillor Whaley said the award gives Waterloo more leverage to attract the best-educated workers in the world.

"It gives Waterloo a chance to tell its story on a larger stage," he said. "That was our mission 30 months ago when we started."

Chief administrative officer Farbrother agreed Waterloo's currency has now soared.

"Reputation is incredibly important, and today the city of Waterloo's reputation went up," he said. "That will have a positive impact socially, politically, culturally and, of course, economically."

Regional Coun. Sean Strickland said Waterloo has a long history of innovation.

The University of Waterloo pioneered co-operative education in Canada and pioneered a controversial policy to allow its students and professors, rather than the university, to own discoveries they made from university-based research. This added to the region's culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Looking ahead, he'd like to see the community brought closer through the Internet, with a community portal allowing citizens to make medical appointments, check bus schedules and find out about community resources .

"Internet can build community," he said.

"If you structure it right, through collaboration, it can really be a community-building tool."

There's lots to learn from other communities, he added.

Earlier at the conference, Strickland and other delegates from Waterloo heard about communities in Sweden where citizens can go online to see what the waiting times are at the local health clinic and hospital emergency room. They heard about Tallinn, Estonia, one of the finalists competing against Waterloo, where citizens vote online, not at ballot boxes, in local and national elections. In Bettendorf, Iowa, students who didn't understand what was said in class, or who were away from school that day, can catch up online, with tutors available until 9:30 p.m. each day.

Another idea was shared on Thursday, at a reception for the top intelligent communities hosted 30 floors above Times Square by the Ontario government, Toronto Hydro and the Canadian Consulate in New York.

New York City Coun. Gale Brewer told the international crowd a story about how the police can make good use of technology normally in the domain of teenagers.

She said her friend's teenage son was recently jumped by four other boys, and he and his mother went to the police station to report the incident. The boy knew a couple of his attackers slightly, and the police gave him a book of mug shot photos to look through, but the victim didn't recognize anyone.

Then he asked if there was a computer in the precinct station, and looked up the assailants easily on Facebook, a communication tool where users often post their photos on their profiles and send messages to one other.

All these ideas are a resource, and Waterloo won't stand still, but will keep improving, Strickland said. "There's so much potential to make our community more wired, more connected, more productive. This has been a real eye-opening experience."

ldamato@therecord.com

OTHER CONTENDERS

Ottawa-Gatineau

Headquarters of Canada's telecommunications industry.

Issy-les-Moulineaux, a suburb of Paris

89 per cent of its population uses the Internet daily, compared with a French average of 56 per cent.

Tallinn, Estonia

Started its technological journey by enabling its population to see Scandinavian broadcasts, which led to its embrace of Western values.

Gangnam District of Seoul, South Korea

Has numerous Internet kiosks, where citizens can apply for a building permit, or make a complaint about a restaurant's cleanliness.

Dundee and Sunderland, U.K.

Both applicants built high-tech infrastructures from the ashes of failed industrial economies based on shipbuilding, textiles and mining.

ON THE WEB:

www.intelligentwaterloo.com

Intelligent Community of the Year
Applicable also to the Smart21 and Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year
Awarded to a city, region or community with a documented strategy for creating a Digital Age economy that uses broadband and information technology to attract leading-edge businesses, stimulate job creation, generate economic growth, and improve the delivery of government services. The community must demonstrate that its strategy has produced measurable results in one or more of the following areas:

-Attracting new business to the community or stimulating their formation
-New job creation
-Creating training programs to equip citizens with knowledge-worker skills
-New technology infrastructure investment, whether of “hard” assets, services or software
-Improvements in the delivery of government and public services such as education, administration, law enforcement or citizen participation
-Innovation in business processes and government procedures
-Ensuring access to broadband and IT resources for low-income and at-risk populations

http://www.intelligentcommunity.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=3

Check out this video of Waterloo:
http://www.intelligentwaterloo.com/en/iw_video.html

Awesome stuff. It really does deserve the recognition, being a dual-university town and what not.

^^ Are the Unis in Waterloo that good? I remember my "host mother" in Canada telling me she wanted her daughter to study there because it was very good. Didn't know how good that was. :D

university of waterloo is quite good, internationally known for some select programs. their networking with companies is massive, the biggest of any university in the world.

^^ Are the Unis in Waterloo that good? I remember my "host mother" in Canada telling me she wanted her daughter to study there because it was very good. Didn't know how good that was. :D

Waterloo has to have some of the best physics / math / computer courses in the world - evidenced by its MASSIVE Asian population - and Laurier is one of Canada's most esteemed business schools. I'm thinking of going to Laurier for my undergrad.

Not a surprise. Waterloo has a very solid foundation on which to build a rich, valued added, technologically savvy society.

One of the best math and science programs in the world at University of Waterloo, a good business school at Laurier, Canadian law, political stability, a highly educated workforce with an industrious captalist mentality, and top notch infrastructure.

There are strongly entrenched relationships between the universities, business, and government. The dialogue is very open and successful. The Waterloo region is booming, but is only in its infancy in regard to what is will accomplish in the future.

It will be Ontario's new dynamo.

I thought the world's most intelligent community were Eureka....:)

TOP SEVEN BY YEAR
2007 Country

Dundee, Scotland United Kingdom

Gangnam District, Seoul South Korea

Issy-les-Moulineaux France

Ottawa-Gatineau, Ontario-Quebec Canada

Sunderland, Tyne & Wear United Kingdom

Tallinn Estonia

Waterloo, Ontario Canada

Canada and United kingdom have 2 cities.:applause: :applause: :applause:

"We're at the tip of the iceberg," Don't like this kind of statements...

Sunderland? :crazy:

O, the irony. Another Waterloo.

Sunderland? :crazy:

Ok. I'm starting to question the credibility of this award.

^^ :lol:

Indeed.

-The University of Waterloo operates the largest post secondary school co-op program of its kind in the world with more than 11,000 students enrolled over three semesters.

-The Faculty of Mathematics is the world's largest centre for the mathematical and computer sciences.

-In the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, Waterloo students have won gold medals in 2001, 2002 and 2005: over a 10-year period, Waterloo’s cumulative scores outrank MIT, Berkeley, Harvard and Caltech.

-"Waterloo is a special relationship for us," Bill Gates told CTV News. "Most years, we hire more students out of Waterloo than any university in the world, typically 50 or even more." That figure doesn't include other students who take co-op placements or short-term employment while still at school.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051013/billgates_waterloo_20051013/20051013?hub=Canada

- International Olympiad in Informatics 2010 will be held in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

- Longest Journey by Solar Electric Vehicle: Sun Solar Car Team (University of Waterloo)
http://guinnessworldrecords.com/records/travel_and_transport/epic_journeys/longest_journey_by_solar_electric_vehicle.aspx

-UW's Faculty of Arts, offers the No. 2-ranked clinical psychology program in North America, as well as the largest arts co-operative program.

-UW's Faculty of Science is home to Canada’s only English-language School of Optometry, the country’s largest graduate studies program in earth sciences

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics:

Since research operations began in the fall of 2001, the Institute has grown to include over 60 resident researchers who are involved in day-to-day operations. Additionally, the vigorous Visitor Program has enabled PI to host hundreds of international researchers each year for collaborations and workshops. The current areas of cross-disciplinary research include:

Cosmology
Quantum Foundations
Particle Physics
Quantum Gravity
Quantum Information Theory
Superstring Theory

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Perimeter_Institute.jpg/800px-Perimeter_Institute.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1a/PerimeterInstituteBack.jpg/800px-PerimeterInstituteBack.jpg

Think-tank to remain in Waterloo
WATERLOO (Jun 9, 2007)

Waterloo will remain the home of a respected international think-tank.

The Academic Council on the United Nations System will remain in the city for a second five-year term, Wilfrid Laurier University announced yesterday.

WLU, partnering with the Centre for International Governance Innovation, also in Waterloo, will continue to host the think-tank.

That decision was made at its annual general meeting in New York.

When the think-tank came to Waterloo five years ago, it was the first time in its 15-year history that it had moved outside the United States, making the relocation a coup for Canada and for WLU.

Patricia Goff, associate professor of political science at Laurier and a senior research fellow at the centre, has been appointed the new executive director of the Academic Council on the United Nations System.

Keeping the think-tank in Waterloo "is timely because of the momentum surrounding global governance studies in the Waterloo area, as well as Laurier's growth in related programs," Goff said in a statement.

The think-tank represents nearly 1,000 international scholars and practitioners who study the workings and effectiveness of the United Nations system. It promotes research, teaching and dialogue.

The think-tank usually moves to a different host university every five years.

There should be mention of Waterloo Region's school board, which is known as one of the best (if not the best) in Ontario. That does just as much as the Universities do.

I grew up just north of Waterloo and attended high school there. I went on to OCAD in Toronto; during my 4 years there we had almost 20 grads from my high school get accepted, which is rare and exceptional. Just a small symptom of a much larger picture.

A lot of people do not know that Blackberry of RIM is from Waterloo.

Ok. I'm starting to question the credibility of this award.


Why? I'm curious as to what your logic is.

I know that the high-tech silicon valley companies recruit students right from school in Waterloo.

Waterloo has to have some of the best physics / math / computer courses in the world - evidenced by its MASSIVE Asian population - and Laurier is one of Canada's most esteemed business schools. I'm thinking of going to Laurier for my undergrad.

Canada's business school.. man come to Rotman Toronto.. or Western Ontario..
and don't go to York Shulich

There should be mention of Waterloo Region's school board, which is known as one of the best (if not the best) in Ontario. That does just as much as the Universities do.
I grew up just north of Waterloo and attended high school there. I went on to OCAD in Toronto; during my 4 years there we had almost 20 grads from my high school get accepted, which is rare and exceptional. Just a small symptom of a much larger picture.

Did you attend W.C.I.?

Egyptian minister at home in land of BlackBerry
MATT WALCOFF
WATERLOO (Jun 12, 2007)

http://www.therecord.com/images/kwr/kwr1069519_1.jpg
Tarek Kamel, Egypt's minister of communications and information technology, speaks during a lunch at Centre for International Governance hosted by the Canada Egypt Business Council.

Tarek Mohamed Kamel, Egypt's minister of communications and information technology, represents a culture, environment and political system very different from Canada's.

But he feels at home in Waterloo.

"I can't be here in Kitchener-Waterloo without mentioning RIM, because in Egypt, at least in the cabinet of the Egyptian government, everybody is using the BlackBerry to communicate with each other," Kamel told an audience at the Centre for International Governance Innovation yesterday.

Kamel led a delegation of 70 Egyptian government and business officials who stopped in Waterloo as part of a six-day trade mission to Canada.

The minister said Research In Motion provides an example for his country's efforts to expand its information-technology sector.

"It's really giving a message about how innovation can contribute to the development of the economy," he said.

Egypt's IT and communications sector is growing 25 per cent per year thanks to a government policy of deregulation and privatization, Kamel also said.

As an example of how quickly growth has accelerated, only 15 per cent of the population has access to fixed-line telephones, but 28 per cent of Egyptians, or 22 million people, have cellphones, and that number is growing by 1 million a month, he said.

Kamel pleaded with local business people in the audience to partner with Egyptian companies to participate in that growth.

"We really are coming here with an invitation for building virtual bridges between Waterloo and Egypt," he said.

The Egyptian group, which travelled in two buses and a few Lincoln Town Cars, is visiting four cities -- Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Waterloo.

Because the mission has an information technology theme, it had to included Waterloo on the itinerary, said Mahmoud El-Saeed, Egypt's ambassador to Canada.

"This is the hub for the sector, and it's a beautiful place," El-Saeed said.

In addition, the area has a sizeable population of Egyptian expatriates attracted by the area's universities, Kamel said after his speech.

In 2001, about 560 Egyptian-born immigrants lived in Waterloo Region, according to Statistics Canada.

Sunderland? :crazy:

I agree. I don't see why Sunderland and Dundee were up there at all. Neither are particularly high tech in comparison to the rest of the UK, nor do they have particularly impressive higher education facilities.

Did you attend W.C.I.?

Nope, Elmira. Not in Waterloo, but under the same school board.

But of course, you already knew that I'm sure.

Nope, Elmira.

Cool :)

Here's another Waterloo Tech company on the move. Sandvine's market cap is now $652 million, more than double the $250 million from a year ago.

Sandvine stock gets big boost
WATERLOO (Jun 14, 2007)

Sandvine Corp.'s shares rose nine per cent yesterday, finishing at an all-time high after the company boosted its annual sales projections.

Sandvine shares (TSX: SVC) finished 47 cents higher to close at $5.45. The company said yesterday it has added a top-flight Internet service provider to its customer base. The Internet provider was not named, but Sandvine said it serves two million Internet subscribers.

With the new customer, the Waterloo technology company now expects sales this fiscal year to be between $62 million and $67 million. Sandvine previously expected sales to reach as high as $60 million. Sandvine said it now boasts 12 of the world's top 100 Internet service providers as clients.

Sandvine makes Internet equipment aimed at helping service providers operate their networks more efficiently. The company employs 170.

In April, Sandvine reported a profit of $5.9 million, or 4.5 cents per share in its quarter ended Feb. 28. In the period, the company's sales reached $15.4 million. Sandvine raised $51.3 million last March when it went public in London on the Alternative Investment Market stock exchange. The company raised another $40 million last October when it went public on the TSX.

good for waterloo.

RIM co-chief to moderate quantum physics panel discussion
MATT WALCOFF
WATERLOO (Jun 16, 2007)

Quantum physics has enormous potential to change the world, but is hard even for physicists to understand.

Yet scientists at the University of Waterloo's Institute for Quantum Computing have planned an open house with the intention of explaining their groundbreaking work to the general public.

On Wednesday evening from 5 to 7, institute researchers will give presentations on the applications of quantum physics at the 195 Columbia St. university building.

A panel discussion featuring some of the best-known scientists in the field will follow at 7 p.m.

The panel is to comprise Nobel laureate Sir Anthony Leggett of UW; Peter Shor and David Cory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Gilles Brassard of the University of Montreal.

Mike Lazaridis, the Research In Motion co-chief executive officer who contributed $50 million toward the establishment of the institute, will serve as moderator.

Both of the events are aimed at the layperson, said David Fransen, executive director of the institute.

"We think we've got something exciting to say, and . . . what we're looking for are opportunities to explain to the general public the research that we're doing," he said.

Quantum physics deals with the behaviour of the smallest objects in the universe, such as atoms, protons, electrons and quarks.

Things that small act differently than objects we are used to; for instance, they can be in two places at the same time.

A computer that takes advantage of quantum physics could be far faster than today's fastest supercomputers. It could be used to crack today's most sophisticated cryptography or simulate complex chemical interactions.

Both the open house and panel discussion are free; guests can register online at www.iqc.ca.

The events are part of Taming the Quantum World, a month-long gathering of scientists organized by the Institute for Quantum Computing and Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Hey I also live in Waterloo and go to the University of Waterloo, nice :).

I go to UW Engineering. I'm not sure how smart the community is.... but the town is obviously not planned so well. :)

I go to UW Engineering. I'm not sure how smart the community is.... but the town is obviously not planned so well. :)

wow i didn't know there where other people here from UW. I am in UW eng too and i agree with you, the city itself isn't the most intelligent, its just the fact that the two universities make up half of its population.

wow i didn't know there where other people here from UW. I am in UW eng too and i agree with you, the city itself isn't the most intelligent, its just the fact that the two universities make up half of its population.

I know of at least one other regular forumer who also attends UW...;)

I go to UW Engineering. I'm not sure how smart the community is.... but the town is obviously not planned so well. :)

It's hard to prove the intelligence of an entire city or area, but one can look at the diversified economy of Waterloo (and Waterloo Region) and the nature of it's parts to see that something must be going right.

Indeed, Waterloo is a suburban mess, but not bad as far as suburbs go. At least the core is become more urban, and not less. Downtown Kitchener seems to be on the verge of recessitation... Galt and Preston not so much. It's interesting to note, though, that UofW is taking an active role in improving these downtown areas (School of Architecture for Galt, Pharmacy campus for Kitchener I do believe). It would be nice if the main campus expanded into Uptown.

Balsillie gift will boost public policy education
BARBARA AGGERHOLM
WATERLOO (Jun 21, 2007)

Billionaire Jim Balsillie -- most recently in the news for his bid for the Nashville Predators -- is now set to give more than $10 million for a more heady cause.

Balsillie, co-chief executive officer of Research In Motion, will boost graduate education in international public policy.

A joint announcement is to be made Monday by the Centre for International Governance Innovation, University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University.

Details are being closely guarded, and some are still being worked out.

"It's one of these things that is going down to the wire as to amount and things of that type," said John English, the centre's executive director, a University of Waterloo historian and former Liberal MP.

"We're still putting some things in place, but we're committed to having. . . quite a large announcement on Monday."

But English said Balsillie's gift is "certainly" more than $10 million.

Some sources say the amount is substantially more.

The gift is significant in size, scope and "imagination," English said.

"I think it will be one that will be noticed not only by the community, but well beyond," he said.

"It's strengthening the social sciences in Canada generally. Of course, the activities will be here, but they'll have broader ramifications."

The Centre for International Governance Innovation, a non-profit, non-partisan research institute, was the vision of Balsillie, who donated $20 million to start it up in 2002. Another $10 million came from Research In Motion co-chief executive officer Mike Lazaridis.

The pair's $30 million was matched by the federal government.

English said Balsillie's new gift will build upon a $3.5-million donation he gave in 2005.

That donation provided more opportunities at UW, WLU and the Centre for International Governance Innovation for graduate students and researchers to collaborate on public policy research, and solutions to global issues.

"It's an expansion of the activities in that realm," English said.

Currently, there are 30 Balsillie Fellowships at both universities in fields related to international public policy. The fellowships are offered to 15 students each year at each university through to 2009.

As well, Balsillie's 2005 donation allowed UW and WLU to create masters degrees dealing with global governance and international public policy, English said.

The announcement is important to make in the summer because "we want to have people aware of what we're doing before the fall," English said.

The Centre for International Governance Innovation builds ideas for global change by funding research programs, creating partnerships and shaping dialogue among scholars, opinion leaders and policy-makers.

The centre has five distinguished fellows, including Louise Frechette, former deputy secretary general of the United Nations and Paul Heinbecker, Canada's former ambassador to the United Nations.

Spokespeople for the two universities declined to comment on the donation yesterday.

Balsillie, co-chief executive officer of Research In Motion, is expected to be at the announcement Monday.

Most recently, Balsillie has been in the news for his efforts to buy the National Hockey League's Nashville Predators for as much as $238 million US.

Last week, he reached a lease agreement with the City of Hamilton for Copps Coliseum, fuelling rumours that he wants to move the franchise to Hamilton.

Meh, that was only cause my younger brother was there. Now that he is going to UFT, I'm sure it will decrease a little.

(He has a 185 IQ or something like that, no joke)

I go to UW Engineering. I'm not sure how smart the community is.... but the town is obviously not planned so well. :)
wow i didn't know there where other people here from UW. I am in UW eng too and i agree with you, the city itself isn't the most intelligent, its just the fact that the two universities make up half of its population.

The Uptown area will be intensifying. 131 residential units are under construction, and over 1000 are proposed. LRT will also be built in the next few years.

(He has a 185 IQ or something like that, no joke)

Nice :)

Balsillie gives $33-million for international relations school
ELIZABETH CHURCH
The Globe and Mail
Monday, June 25, 2007

Jim Balsillie, the high-tech entrepreneur and would-be NHL owner, is now also the namesake of a new school of international relations he helped found today with a $33-million donation.

The Balsillie School of International Affairs will open next year in Waterloo, Ont., and will offer graduate programs in global governance and international public policy in conjunction with the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University.

Mr. Balsillie, co-founder of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, also announced that he will give an additional $17-million to the Centre for International Governance Innovation, a Waterloo-based independent think tank he founded in 2002.

The new school eventually will be located in a new building beside the governance centre on land that is currently owned by the city.

As part of today's announcement, the centre said Mr. Balsillie's $50-million in donations will trigger additional investments from the city's two universities of about $25-million each over the next decade. These combined $100-million in funding is the largest initiative in the social sciences in Canada, it said.

Mr. Balsillie said both Waterloo and Canada have much to offer “a deeper understanding” of global governance.

“The issues of today are borderless. It's a different world, an accelerated world,” he said.

“Ideas and creative thinking ... can go a long way in shaping our nation's contribution towards what is to be the world's future.”

The Balsillie School will bring together core studies of political science, economics and history with related disciplines of geography, global studies, environmental studies and business.

The school is scheduled to open in 2008 and is expected to move into its new building by 2009.

A new world-class school
Balsillie funds Waterloo effort to grapple with global issues
BARBARA AGGERHOLM AND BRIAN CALDWELL
WATERLOO (Jun 26, 2007)

http://www.therecord.com/images/kwr/kwr1082956_1.jpg
Jim Balsillie pauses for a moment inside the Centre for International Governance Innovation, the non-profit research centre which he founded in 2002. The new school for international affairs will further develop expertise in global development issues.

http://www.therecord.com/images/kwr/kwr1082956_2.jpg
Jim Balsillie

A school of international affairs named after Jim Balsillie -- a billionaire philanthropist who donated a total of $50 million yesterday-- will be built in the hub of Waterloo's brain centre.

The funds will support both the new school and the work of the nearby Centre for International Governance Innovation, a think-tank started by Balsillie at the corner of Caroline Street and Erb Street West.

"The creation of the Balsillie School of International Affairs represents a giant step forward in understanding Canada's place in the world," said John English, executive director of the centre.

Balsillie will contribute $33 million to the new school, while the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University will add $25 million over the next decade.

The gift was announced at a high-profile event at the governance centre, which itself will get $17 million from Balsillie. It's touted as the largest gift in Canadian history to further the social sciences and humanities.

With top researchers and graduate students, the school will help Canada make an important contribution to what Balsillie described as "the issues of our time."

"We have a lot more to do and much we can contribute and I think we should feel encouraged to be bold about it," he said, after receiving a standing ovation.

The school -- to open in early 2008, with a $7.8-million building in place by late 2009 -- will be built on 3.5 acres of city land at the site of the former Seagram distillery, just a stone's throw from the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics.

Also an international think-tank, the Perimeter Institute was established with a huge donation from Mike Lazaridis, Balsillie's partner at BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion.

"We've gone from grain to brain," said University of Waterloo president David Johnston, referring to the site's storied history as a distillery.

Premier Dalton McGuinty was at the event to announce the province will contribute $17 million to the Centre for International Governance Innovation -- matching an amount contributed by Balsillie -- for research on global politics and economics.

"This really is home to some of the best and brightest minds in the world, some of the most creative thinkers and some of the most successful entrepreneurs -- people just like Jim Balsillie," McGuinty said.

University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University will jointly offer graduate programs in global governance and international public policy at the new school, which will work closely with the existing centre.

In a borderless, accelerated world, Balsillie said, expertise will be needed to help address issues such as security and terrorism, trade, health, energy and the environment.

Balsillie is giving $33 million toward the new school, and the additional $17 million to support work at the centre, a non-profit, non-partisan research centre he founded in 2002.

He thanked his partners at Research In Motion for helping him make the fortune that allows him to fund such public initiatives.

"I'm really the recipient of the gift, not the donor of the gift," said Balsillie.

McGuinty said Canadians should remember how fortunate they are to live in a prosperous country.

In Liberia, he said, the unemployment rate is 70 per cent and its capital city just got electricity and running water in the downtown core.

McGuinty also cited India, where 300 million people live on less than $1 a day, and in China, which has 700 million people living on less than $2 a day.

"You and I enjoy a quality of life that is second to none," he said. "We are truly blessed."

McGuinty thanked Balsillie for "bringing attention to that area of governance which is the least evolved and, I would argue, the most urgently needed to help humanity address global challenges and seize global opportunities."

Research at the centre, he said, will directly help companies in Ontario compete around the world by providing them with the latest information.

For example, one project will examine how communities abroad are getting their energy and protecting the environment to address global warming.

"That kind of information is vital for us in Ontario as we develop solutions to climate change for sale to the world," said McGuinty.

Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran said the city will give the universities a long-term lease at a nominal rate on the land needed for the school, which may not take up the whole site.

The centre will own the building, and the universities will be responsible for operating it.

Specifics of the deal are still being negotiated and will require a vote of city council, likely in about a month.

The city has owned the land -- valued at about $1 million an acre -- since the closing of the distillery about 15 years ago, but had yet to find a proposal to put it to good use.

"This is the significant project that I think the city has been waiting for," said Halloran.

"We look at the long-term benefits to the city with the creation of jobs. People are going to move here, they're going to need housing, they're going to spend money in our community."

UW president David Johnston described a snowy February day six years ago at a Georgian Bay cottage when Balsillie came up with the idea behind the international governance centre.

Balsillie went out for a long run, and came back with the idea that a centre would address "the moral imperative of the new economy," Johnston said.

"If we can't get along with one another; if we can't govern ourselves, if we can't establish viable communities in each part of the world to govern, then prosperity just goes to nothing," said Johnston, reporting on his conversation with Balsillie then.

WLU president Robert Rosehart said the new school will build on other initiatives already undertaken at Laurier.

For example, there's the Laurier Centre for Global Relations headed by Paul Heinbecker, former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations who has a joint appointment with the centre.

There's also the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies headed by Terry Copp; and WLU is also host to the prestigious Academic Council on the United Nations System.

Global issues are all connected, and they need the resources offered by new students, research fellows and the centre, including its massive online research portal dubbed IGLOO, Balsillie said in an interview.

"And now we're putting an education dimension into it," he said.

"This is a great opportunity for us to move the ball down the field, collectively, as a community."

Our growing debt to Jim Balsillie
(Jun 26, 2007)

When someone sits down to write the history of Waterloo Region in the early 21st century, that person will describe a time of electrifying change, growth and prosperity, a time when this part of Canada became world-renowned for cutting edge technology, fearless innovation and advanced thought. And when that history is duly written, one of the most prominent names in it will be that of Research In Motion billionaire Jim Balsillie.

Already famous as a business leader and philanthropist of the first order, Balsillie showed yesterday why he is both of those things but, as well, a passionate intellectual, a visionary with global perspective and a community builder whose extraordinary means are appropriately matched by his extraordinary community spirit. The sports world has come to know him as the rich guy who wants to buy a National Hockey League team and move it to southern Ontario. But, as his actions demonstrated yesterday, there is so much more to this individual.

With an astonishingly generous gift of $33 million, Balsillie laid the financial foundation for a new school of international affairs in the centre of Waterloo. And with a donation of $17 million he helped launch a wide range of new research projects at Waterloo's Centre for International Governance Innovation.

It is true, and deserving full recognition, that other hands are helping both ventures. The University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University will together spend $50 million over the next decade on the new school. Meanwhile, the provincial government will match Balsillie's funding for research using tax dollars.

The co-operation between the public and private sectors as well as the partnership between the two local universities merit recognition and praise. But it's important for the people of Waterloo Region to realize that one individual, who is also one of their own -- and that's Jim Balsillie -- made it happen. None of this could have been accomplished without him. So what will be accomplished by the staggering investment of $100 million in this community?

Well, the world is changing. It is globalizing. People are on the move as never before; national economies are integrating as never before; cultures are meeting and changing each other as never before. Amidst all this, the world is grappling with serious, even frightening problems involving the environment, poverty, war, nuclear proliferation and terrorism. And in this exciting but perplexing world, Balsillie has seen that in Waterloo Region, in a place where a distillery and a brewery once provided the jobs, there will be a new institute of higher education to teach people about global politics, economics and history.

It will prepare people to work in government, education, international organizations or the private sector. Meanwhile, his gift to the Centre for International Governance and Innovation (an institution he started with a $20 million donation) will fund economic research to help businesses compete, expand and create jobs.

Balsillie is not baking pie in the sky. Nor is he erecting an ivory tower. He is helping create a new and better kind of world in which Canada can play a positive and creative role. He is trying to invigorate the Canadian economy. He is giving Waterloo Region and the city of Waterloo a key role in all of this, a role that some observers in Canada's largest city undoubtedly think belongs to Toronto.

But Balsillie is putting it all here and hooray for that. The new educational institute, by the way, will be called the Balsillie School of International Affairs. We can't think of a better name.

Applications for faculty already flooding in
BARBARA AGGERHOLM
WATERLOO (Jun 26, 2007)

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The new school of international affairs in Waterloo will rank among top schools in North America, say university officials.

"This is very significant for our community," University of Waterloo president David Johnston said.

"What it means is that we'll have a school of international affairs which we believe can be one of the ranking schools in North America."

Eventually, there could be up to 40 faculty and about 200 students from both universities at the school, said Sue Horton, vice-president academic at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Already, UW and WLU are receiving calls from across North America from experts interested in teaching at the school.

"Even as word started leaking out about this last week, we've received a whole bunch of enquiries from extremely impressive people across the country . . . and outside as well," said Ken Coates, UW's dean of arts.

The Balsillie School of International Affairs -- to be built next to the Centre for International Governance Innovation -- will open in 2008.

The building is scheduled to be ready in 2009.

Currently, there are 30 Balsillie Fellows at both universities in fields related to international public policy.

The graduate fellowships are offered to 15 students each year at each university, and another 24 will be added.

Billionaire Jim Balsillie's donation will add 12 research chairs to the six that exist today at both universities.

WLU has just appointed Jorge Heine, former Chilean ambassador to India, to a CIGI research chair.

"With an international diplomat with ties around the world, you can imagine the types of international experiences our PhD students are going to get," said WLU dean of arts David Docherty.

"Once they start going on the market for jobs, their competitiveness is going to be significantly better as a result of the kind of resources" offered, he said.

With funding from Balsillie in 2005, UW is set to take, in September, its first students in a new masters program in global governance, while WLU is taking students in a masters program in international public policy.

Both universities are also accepting their first students in a joint PhD program in global governance.

Issues they'll research will include everything from nuclear energy to water.

But "we're not just studying about things," Coates said.

"We're talking about folks who have diplomatic experience, who have worked in non-governmental organizations overseas, who have worked in other countries and who actually have a vested interest and commitment to taking the ideas from here and putting them in practice."

Horton said both CIGI chair appointments at Laurier are experts in Latin American development.

"All the Latin American countries are struggling with high levels of inequality and issues with accessing world trade and in Bolivia, there are riots over access to water," Horton said.

"People will be doing research that sheds light on those very important issues."

Louise Frechette, former deputy secretary general of the United Nations, is heading a project at the Centre for International Governance Innovation on nuclear energy and the world's security.

"That's a very good role for Canada to play," UW 's Johnston said.

"We're in a position, I think, to encourage the peaceful use of nuclear (technology) around the world and . . . to play an important role in the loose nukes that are gathering around the world," Johnston said.

Balsillie said the school will also increase the number of talented people who will serve in the civil service in Canada and around the world.

OTHER CONTENDERS
Issy-les-Moulineaux, a suburb of Paris

89 per cent of its population uses the Internet daily, compared with a French average of 56 per cent.
That makes people smart???

Waterloo firm wins kudos for innovations
(Jun 27, 2007)

Intelligent Mechatronic Systems Inc. of Waterloo was recently recognized by consulting firm Frost & Sullivan for its innovations in the field of automotive technology.

IMS won the 2007 North American Telematic Services Product Innovation of the Year Award for its iLane, DriveSync and iPAID products.

Using iLane, drivers can check their e-mail while on the road by using voice commands. DriveSync records where a vehicle is driven for insurance companies or governments, while iPAID does the same for or fleet managers.

Soaring RIM shrugs off iPhone threat
CATHERINE McLEAN
The Globe and Mail
Friday, June 29, 2007

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On the eve of a much-hyped new competitor entering the smart phone market, Research In Motion Ltd. proved it has its own strong following as it expects to ship the 20 millionth BlackBerry this summer.

RIM's shares surged 16 per cent in after-hours trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market yesterday. That's after it reported first-quarter results that outstripped analysts' expectations, issued a forecast for further robust growth in the second quarter and announced plans to split its shares.

In contrast, shares of its latest and perhaps toughest challenger, Apple Inc., whose sleek iPhone makes its U.S. debut today, were little changed in after-hours trading. The iPhone is expected to sell 10 million units by the end of 2008.

Addressing the current iPhone frenzy, RIM co-chief executive officer Jim Balsillie maintained that the new cellphone will be more of a help than a threat. The iPhone will launch first in the U.S., and will only be sold through one wireless carrier, AT&T Inc., he pointed out. Further markets will follow.

"iPhone is launching in one carrier in one country," Mr. Balsillie told analysts yesterday on a conference call. "We're in about 100 countries and 300 carriers." RIM is benefiting from greater demand for multimedia smart phones as more people want to send e-mails and listen to music on the go.

To take advantage of that trend, Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM has branched out beyond its traditional business clientele into the consumer space with other BlackBerry devices such as the Curve and the Pearl, both of which have proven to be hits everywhere from Canada to India. But he's not the only one with his sights on that space as the iPhone prepares to move in.

On a conference call with analysts, Mr. Balsillie maintained the Curve, like the iPhone, is also hip. After all, he wouldn't want the BlackBerry to become the equivalent of the sad "PC" that can't stand up to the always cooler Macintosh in Apple's commercials.

While the iPhone already has everyone in its thrall, Mr. Balsillie noted the Curve has attracted its share of attention, including coverage from entertainment shows south of the border. Moreover, BlackBerry is sponsoring singer John Mayer's latest tour, he noted.

New products such as the Pearl, along with expansion in international markets - including Italy, Britain and India - helped boost the number of subscriber accounts in the quarter by 1.2 million to more than nine million in the first quarter ended June 2.

As a result, RIM's revenue jumped 76 per cent to $1.08-billion (U.S.) in the period. That was a landmark for RIM since it was the first time that the company generated $1-billion in revenue in a single quarter. Profit climbed to $223.2-million, or $1.20 a share from $128.8-million or 69 cents a year ago.

That beat analysts' expectations for a share profit of $1.09, according to consensus estimates from Bloomberg.

For the current quarter, RIM expects more growth. The company forecast second-quarter revenue of between $1.3-billion and $1.37-billion as it expects to add another 1.325 million to 1.375 million customer accounts.

"We believe we'll continue to grow significantly over the next several years and the stock split will make the share price more accessible to investors," Mr. Balsillie said.

As of Aug. 20, RIM investors will receive two shares in the company for each share they own.

The company did not give an update on its April announcement that the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York has started a review into its stock option grants.

Earlier this year, RIM wrapped up an internal probe into the backdating of grants to employees and found it had made errors that forced it to restate results. It said it found no "intentional misconduct."

RIM's romp

$348-MILLION: The approximate increase in Jim Balsillie's RIM stake in after-hours trading last night.*

$252-MILLION: Jim Balsillie's offer for the Nashville Predators hockey team of the NHL.

30%: RIM's stock price rise on the Toronto Stock Exchange this year not including last night's jump in late trading.

2.4 MILLION: The number of BlackBerrys shipped last quarter.

1.2 MILLION: The number of new BlackBerry customers last quarter.

$6-MILLION: Sales of smart phones this year (all brands)

March 1, 2006: close $80.62

March 3, 2006: RIM ends more than four years of legal warfare and averts a shutdown on its BlackBerry wireless service in the U.S., paying $612.5-million (U.S.) to NTP Inc. for disputed patents.

Sept. 12, 2006: RIM launches the Pearl, a $250 phone that is the company's first attempt to reach consumers beyond its business market.

April 12, 2007: Shares slide 8 per cent as U.S. regulators launch a full-blown investigation into the company's accounting.

April 25, 2007: U.S. Attorney in new York begins a review into RIM stock grants.

May 31, 2007: RIM launches its newest phone, the Curve.

June 28, 2007: close $175.22

:sleepy: